Violinist Giora Schmidt made his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra Sunday playing Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto at Blossom Music Center.

The sun last weekend was certainly intense, but the personalities on stage at Blossom Music Center were even stronger.

Featuring a dauntless soloist and two intrepid conductors, the performances Saturday and Sunday by the Cleveland Orchestra were not for the musically thin-skinned. Yet just as overheating is a risk, so too did the artists sometimes overplay their quests to awaken the senses.

On Saturday, Stephane Deneve, music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, returned to the Cleveland podium for a charming, largely French program consisting mostly of pieces or abbreviations of larger works.

The only whole entry, in fact, was Debussy's First Rhapsody, a seductive miniature concerto for clarinet rendered rapturously by principal clarinetist Franklin Cohen, a champion of the piece. Setting up his partner for success, Deneve supplied a diaphanous, taut ensemble.

Berlioz turned up twice, with the "Roman Carnival Overture" and the Love Scene from "Romeo and Juliet." Both found the orchestra in tip-top shape, doling out silky tones and elegant phrasing while observing the conductor's generally brisk pace.

Ravel's Suite No. 2 from "Daphnis and Chloe" also benefited from Deneve's touch. The three ballet scenes came to life in startling color: "Daybreak" as a frothy sweep; "Pantomime" crystalline in texture and natural in pulse; the final dance frenzied and effervescent.

Only in Stravinsky's "Firebird" Suite did Deneve's mercurial style fall short. While the woodwinds offered an enchanting "Princesses" dance and the brass delivered a rousing finale, overly-quick tempos in the "Berceuse" and "King Kashchei" dance sapped the music of its magic.

Leading a program of musical favorites Sunday, assistant conductor Tito Muñoz avoided such pitfalls. On the contrary, his performances from memory hovered enticingly at the brim of energy and vitality.

Still, even he must have found violinist Giora Schmidt's reading of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto vexing at times.

High on individuality, Schmidt's rendition of the great violin showpiece was impossible to resist, captivating with lyricism, tonal warmth, and boundless enthusiasm. Where so many performances are carbon copies, this one was his alone. Yet it was also headstrong, full of unpredictable accelerations that left his colleagues in the lurch.

Munoz enjoyed complete control the rest of the evening, beginning with Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story" and ending with Elgar's "Enigma" Variations.

From the former, two conclusions were clear: Muñoz is wondrously attentive to detail, and the orchestra has a knack for jazz. No actors were needed. The orchestra's performance alone carried more zing than many a staged production.

The Elgar was no less engaging. Presenting its series of 14 musical portraits, conductor and orchestra underscored the music's unifying thread while accenting the humor, nobility, and animation of the individuals.

Notable, as always, was the famous "Nimrod" variation, which Sunday rose from an almost imperceptible hush to a gleaming, resonant surge. As the temperature for the evening dropped by degree, emotion soared.